Appliance and method for capturing images having a user error interface

ABSTRACT

A capturing and viewing appliance and method are provided for capturing and communicating images to other devices with communication capabilities. The capturing and viewing appliance includes a processor for manipulating and viewing the images on a built-in display. Program code stored in internal memory includes an error utility interface which informs the user of an error in operating the appliance. According to another aspect of the invention, the error interface provides a user-friendly interface for learning how to correctly operate the appliance after an error in operation has occurred. Through the use of icons, operational buttons, and animated sequences the present invention presents a novel user interface which makes the error interface and method a solution in devices with limited resources which need to be able to communicate with users correct methods of operating an appliance. The error interface and method is designed for communicating with the user through instrument reuse which is especially useful in portable hand-held appliances or other devices which are capable of displaying images where space and compactness are a concern.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to U.S. application entitled “APPLIANCE ANDMETHOD OF USING SAME HAVING A SEND CAPABILITY FOR STORED DATA” (Ser. No.09/130,869), U.S. application entitled “APPLIANCE AND METHOD OF USINGSAME HAVING A USER HELP CAPABILITY” (Ser. No. 09/130,080), U.S.application entitled “APPLIANCE AND METHOD OF USING SAME FOR CAPTURINGIMAGES” (Ser. No. 09/130,573), U.S. application entitled “APPLIANCE ANDMETHOD OF USING SAME HAVING A DELETE CAPABILITY FOR SAVED DATA” (Ser.No. 09/130,082), U.S. application entitled “APPLIANCE AND METHOD USINGSAME HAVING A CAPABILITY TO GRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATE AND DISASSOCIATE DATAWITH AND FROM ONE ANOTHER” (Ser. No. 09/130,789), U.S. applicationentitled “APPLICATION AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATING AND VIEWING MULTIPLECAPTURED IMAGES” (Ser. No. 09/130,081), U.S. application entitled“APPLIANCE AND METHOD FOR NAVIGATING AMONG MULTIPLE CAPTURED IMAGES ANDFUNCTIONAL MENUS” (Ser. No. 09/130,584), U.S. application entitled“APPLIANCE AND METHOD FOR VIEWING CAPTURED IMAGES” (Ser. No.09/131,258), and U.S. application entitled “APPLIANCE AND METHOD FORMENU NAVIGATION” (Ser. No. 09/130,868), which are filedcontemporaneously herewith and are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the field of digitalcapturing and, more particularly, relates to a user interface for aportable hand-held capturing and communicating appliance forcommunicating errors associated with operation of the appliance andmethods of correcting the error.

2. Related Art

Intangible information is a vital business asset that can be exploitedfor competitive advantage if managed properly. In the past fifteenyears, improvements in information processing have been achievedprimarily from the widespread use of microcomputers in the workplace andtheir application in local and wide area networks. Through suchapplications as electronic mail (email) and networked access to documentstorage servers, the electronic communications market has exploded.Nevertheless, business is still far from reaching a “paperless”workplace. For example, according to a 1993 report by BIS StrategicDecisions (hereinafter BIS), an information technology consulting firm,more than 90 billion documents were created in 1992 and more than 1trillion copies of those documents were made. Moreover, BIS estimatedthat printing and copying expenses average between 6% and 13% of atypical company's revenue. These statistics illustrate the economicsavings available for those businesses that are able to merge paper andtechnology in a unified information processing strategy.

One tool that has proven useful for translating between paper andelectronic information is the digital scanner. Scanner-enabled documentdistribution endows paper-based documents with the speed and convenienceof electronic communications. A desktop scanner or network scannerallows business professionals to scan paper-based documents, manage themeffectively and distribute them in a timely fashion. Users can share anddistribute information easily by scanning directly to their email or PCfax applications. The growing popularity of fax modems and email isdriving the acceptance of scanner-enabled document distribution inoffices of all sizes. Fax/modem capabilities, which are available withvirtually all modern PCs, enable users to send and receive faxesdirectly from a computer—at their desk or while traveling—and to checkemail remotely.

Nevertheless, while scanners are ideal for users who need to disseminatepaper-based information to colleagues through PC facsimile and/or email,traditional flatbed scanners lack the convenience and flexibility thatusers have become accustomed to through such products as notebookcomputers and cellular phones. Hand-held scanners are an improvement inthis regard; however, they are typically dependent on a host computerfor displaying the scanned images and for providing power. U.S. Pat. No.5,550,938 to Hayakawa et al. (hereinafter Hayakawa) discloses a portableimage scanner designed to overcome these disadvantages. Specifically,Hayakawa discloses a hand-held cordless image scanner having adisplay/control screen, a memory for storing scanned images, a selfcontained power supply and an interface that allows the scanner to bereceived by a host computer as a memory card for transferring storedimages from the scanner to the computer. While Hayakawa's scanner iseffective in breaking the dependency on a host computer for imagedisplay and power, it still has several drawbacks. For example,Hayakawa's scanner offers no image processing features other than thecapabilities of storing or discarding a newly scanned image andreviewing those images that have been stored previously. More advancedimage processing would necessarily be done after transfer to a hostcomputer. Moreover, Hayakawa does not offer a graphical user interface(GUI) containing icons and/or animations to assist users in operatingtheir device. Finally, transfer of images is limited to those deviceshaving ports for receiving an external memory card or the capability ofreading the scanner memory through a memory card drive.

Accordingly, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry forproviding a hand-held image capturing appliance and method that allowsusers to navigate among multiple captured images, as well as functionalmenus in the appliance before transferring the captured images to someother unit such as a computer, printer, or facsimile machine. Inaddition, the capturing device should provide cordless operation and usea standard interface for transferring images to other devices. A GUI ispreferred to assist users, particularly novices, in operating thedevice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the inadequacies and deficiencies of theprior art as discussed hereinbefore. The present invention provides animage capturing appliance incorporating a user error interface forcommunicating to the user erroneous operation of the appliance and waysto correct the error through use of text messages and animation. Thisinterface, in conjunction with other interfaces, facilitates ease of useand hardware simplification and miniaturization of the capturingappliance for seamless integration of the appliance into a consumer'sexisting tools and processes.

The capturing appliance contains a capturing means such as photocellsand a storage means for storing captured images. A processing means isalso provided for processing the acquired image and displaying it on aself-contained display of the appliance. Program instructions areprovided in the memory of the appliance and allows the user to processimages through menu selection on the display of the appliance. Programinstructions are also provided in memory to invoke text messages toinform a user of an operating error and animated sequences tocommunicate to the user how to operate the appliance correctly.

The error interface and method provides a user interface incorporatingon-screen icons, dialog boxes and operational buttons for designatingoperations to be performed by the appliance as well as animatedsequences to assist the user in learning how to correctly operate theappliance. The present invention has many advantages, a few of which aredelineated hereafter, as examples.

An advantage of the user error interface and method of the presentinvention is that they provide a simple procedure informing the user howto correctly operate an appliance using functional buttons.

Another advantage of the user error interface and method of the presentinvention is that they provide a more flexible and user friendlyprocedure for correctly operating an appliance.

Another advantage of the user error interface and method of the presentinvention is that they provide a procedure for communicating a usererror and method of correction which is simple, easy to learn andefficient.

Another advantage of the user error interface and method of the presentinvention is that they can be employed in virtually any graphical userinterface (GUI).

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the followingdrawings and detailed description. It is intended that all suchadditional features and advantages be included herein within the scopeof the present invention, as is defined by the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1A is an elevation view of the hand-held image capture andcommunication appliance according to the present invention, whichdepicts a side of the unit containing the display screen, operationbuttons, and navigation buttons;

FIG. 1B is an elevation view of the appliance of FIG. 1A depicting theopposing side to that illustrated in FIG. 1A which contains the capturebutton for performing an image capture;

FIG. 1C is an elevation view of the appliance of FIGS. 1A and 1Bdepicting an end of the unit, which contains the power button;

FIG. 1D is an elevation view of the appliance of FIG. 1A, 1B, and 1Cdepicting the opposing end to that illustrated in FIG. 1C, whichcontains a brightness button for adjusting the visual clarity of thedisplay screen;

FIG. 2 is a high-level block diagram of the internal hardware andsoftware architecture of the appliance illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1D;

FIG. 3 is a high-level state diagram of the application software of FIG.2;

FIG. 4A illustrates the speed error text error message as displayed onthe display screen of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 4B illustrates an alternate embodiment of the speed error texterror message displayed in FIG. 4A as displayed on the display screen ofFIG. 1A;

FIG. 5A illustrates a snapshot of the beginning of an animated sequenceas displayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A, which communicates to theuser how to correctly capture an image using the appliance of FIG. 1Athrough FIG. 1D;

FIG. 5B illustrates a snapshot of the middle of an animated sequence asdisplayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A, which communicates to theuser how to correctly capture an image using the appliance of FIG. 1Athrough FIG. 1D;

FIG. 5C illustrates a snapshot of the middle of an animated sequence asdisplayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A, which communicates to theuser how to correctly capture an image using the appliance of FIG. 1Athrough FIG. 1D;

FIG. 5D illustrates a snapshot of the end of an animated sequence asdisplayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A, which communicates to theuser how to correctly capture an image using the appliance of FIG. 1Athrough FIG. 1D;

FIG. 6A illustrates a snapshot of the beginning of an animated sequenceas displayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A, which communicates to theuser how the appliance of FIGS. 1A through 1D was operated incorrectlyby leaving the page during a capture;

FIG. 6B illustrates a snapshot of the end of an animated sequence asdisplayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A, which communicates to theuser how the appliance of FIGS. 1A through 1D was operated incorrectlyby leaving the page during a capture,

FIG. 7A illustrates a snapshot of the beginning of an animated sequenceas displayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A, which communicates to theuser how the appliance of FIGS. 1A through 1D was operated incorrectlyby not allowing sufficient overlap of the capturing paths;

FIG. 7B illustrates a snapshot of the end of an animated sequence asdisplayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A, which communicates to theuser how the appliance of FIGS. 1A through 1D was operated incorrectlyby not allowing sufficient overlap of the capturing paths; and

FIG. 8 is a functional flowchart which represents the operation of theappliance of FIG. 1A through FIG. 1D through the error dialog state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Reference is now made to the drawings wherein like reference numeralsdesignate corresponding parts throughout these several figures. Itshould be understood by those skilled in the art that some aspects ofthe present invention may be practiced on any apparatus for the purposesdirecting operating instructions to a user, not limited to apparatuseswhich include or do not include image capturing capabilities through aphotoelement array or scanning.

Architecture of the Image Capture and Communication Appliance

A portable, hand-held, image capture and communication appliance 22embodying the principles of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1Athrough 1D. Specifically, FIG. 1A depicts one side (i.e., front) ofappliance 22 where a flat-panel display 24 along with user operationbuttons 26, 28, 32, 34, 36, 38 and user navigation buttons 42, 44, 46,48 are located. Display 24 is preferably of the flat-panel variety toaccommodate the hand size dimensions of appliance 22. Common types offlat-panel displays suitable for use in the present invention includeelectroluminescent displays, gas plasma discharge displays, liquidcrystal displays (LCDs) and field emission displays (FEDs). Display 24is the means by which information, including captured images, text,icons, and animations, is communicated to the user. The user operationbuttons comprise an image send or transmit button 26, an image zoombutton 28, an image rotate button 32, an image delete button 34, a helputility button 36 and a tools menu button 38. Send, zoom, rotate, anddelete buttons 26, 28, 32 and 34 allow the user to electronicallymanipulate an image or page that has been scanned into memory throughphotoelement array 52. Activation of tools button 38 presents the userwith a menu that includes possible image operations (e.g., imageattachment/grouping, image detachment/ungrouping), changing the mode ofappliance 22 (i.e., toggling between text (binary) capture and image(grayscale) capture), calibrating appliance 22, displaying a screenidentifying important specifications such as a model number, hardware orsoftware release number, memory usage, selecting a page size forprinting, etc., or other user utilities not deserving of a dedicatedexternal button for activation. Help button 36 provides the user withaccess to general tutorials, process animations, and how-to instructionson the operation of appliance 22 and context sensitive instruction whenrequested while another operation or menu is active. The navigationbuttons include an up button 42, a down button 44, a left button 46, anda right button 48 and are controlled by the user to steer a coursethrough menu items and to view images or pages that have been capturedin memory.

FIG. 1B shows the side of appliance 22 opposite that illustrated in FIG.1A (i.e., back). The back side of appliance 22 includes image capturebutton 54, which is depressed by a user to scan an image throughphotoelement array 52 and is released once the image is captured. Apower switch 56 is included at one end of appliance 22 as shown in FIG.1C and a contrast control 58 for display 24 is located at the other endof appliance 22 as shown in FIG. 1D. The positioning of the variousbuttons, power button 56 and contrast control 58 on appliance 22 asshown in FIGS. 1A through 1D is merely exemplary and can be modified asneeded to satisfy the ergonomic requirements of the targeted usercommunity.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the internal architecture of appliance 22 willbe described hereafter. Appliance 22 includes a processor 62, whichcommunicates with a memory 64 via address/data bus 66. Processor 62 canbe any commercially available or custom microprocessor suitable for anembedded application. Memory 64 is representative of the overallhierarchy of memory devices containing the software and data used toimplement the functionality of appliance 22. Memory 64 can include, butis not limited to, the following types of devices: cache, ROM, PROM,EPROM, EEPROM, flash, SRAM, and DRAM. As shown in FIG. 2, memory 64holds four major categories of software and data used in appliance 22:the operating system 68; the application software 70; the I/O devicedrivers 72; and the image data 74 generated for each scan. Operatingsystem 68 should be designed for real time embedded applications and,preferably, is relatively compact to make the most efficient use ofmemory 64. One such example of a real time operating system meetingthese criteria is the PSOSYSTEM operating system (pSOSystem® or pSOS®)sold by Integrated Systems, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., U.S.A., which isused in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. I/O devicedrivers 72 include software routines accessed through operating system66 by application software 70 to communicate with devices such asdisplay 24, certain memory components 64 and I/O ports such as a serialport or infra red (IR) port for transferring data to another appliance,device or system. The digital representations of the images captured byappliance 22 is denoted by image data 74. The format used for storingthe images should be compatible with application software 70. One commonformat used for encoding images is the JPEG standard; however, otherpublic or proprietary standards can be used with equal success. In thepreferred embodiment, CCITT-G4, which is designed for facsimile usageand black and white images, is used. Finally, application software 70comprises the control programs that implement the various features ofappliance 22. Application software 70 and device drivers 72 aretypically written in a high-level programming language such as C or C++for development convenience. Nevertheless, some drivers or applicationmodules are sometimes written in assembly or machine language tooptimize speed, memory usage or layout of the software in memory. In thepreferred embodiment, the present invention uses C language to implementmost application software 70 and device drivers 72 and assembly languagefor the most time critical sections.

Application software 70 can be broken into several modules correspondingto the various features of appliance 22, as shown in FIG. 2. Thesesoftware modules include an initialization module 76, a capture pagemodule 78, a thumbnail view module 82, a zoom view module 84, a pagerotation module 86, an attach page module 88, a detach page module 92, adelete page module 94, a send page module 96, an error utility module98, a help utility module 102 and a menu/navigation interface module104. Note that an image captured in memory is interchangeably referredto herein as a “page” because the image is portrayed in appliance 22 asa physical page of text and/or imagery. A brief overview of each of theaforementioned modules follows hereafter.

Initialization module 76 contains the boot software that is invoked whenappliance 22 powers up. This module works closely with operating system68 and device drivers 72 to perform any hardware initialization forprocessor 62, memory devices 64, display 24, and software initializationfor global resources, such as message queues and buffers, system tasks,and memory partitions. Capture page module 78 controls the acquisitionof images through photoelement array 52 and their conversion into asuitable format for storage in memory 64. Thumbnail view module 82provides the default visual for pages and icons shown on display 24. Thethumbnail view presents an entire page on display 24. Zoom view module84 allows the user to magnify a portion of a page. Page rotation module86 allows the user to rotate a page either in thumbnail or zoom view in900 increments. Attach page module 88 allows the user to logically joinpages together to form a group of pages that can be deleted, sent orviewed as an individual unit, but not rotated or zoomed. Rotation andzoom always apply only to the current page. Conversely, detach pagemodule 92 allows the user to separate a page or pages from a previouslyformed group. Delete page module 94 allows the user to purge a page orgroup of pages from memory 64. Send page module 96 allows the user totransfer a page or group of pages to another appliance, device or systemthrough the serial or IR communication ports of appliance 22. Errorutility module 98 provides notification to the user when the userattempts an invalid operation. This software module shall be discussedin further detail hereinafter. Help utility module 102 provides theuser, in real time, with general instructions and animations onoperating appliance 22 and context sensitive instructions for performinga specific operation. Lastly, menu/navigation interface module 104provides the user with graphical menus for performing various operationsand processes the user's response thereto.

A high level state diagram for application software 70 is shown in FIG.3. This state diagram is useful for gaining a broad understanding of theoperation of application software 70 and its associated softwaremodules. These states are representative of tasks or processes inapplication software 70 that act on messages from a message queue, whichare generated as a result of user interaction with appliance 22 (i.e.,activation of buttons). Appliance 22 and application software 70 beginand terminate from the off state 106, which is controlled by the userthrough operation of power switch 56. Off state 106 can clearly beentered from any other state in response to a user turning appliance 22off through switch 56. When a user turns switch 56 to the on position,the system will pass through a transient initialization state 108 duringwhich time initialization module 76 is invoked to perform its functions.Once system initialization is complete, the system enters the thumbnailview state 112, which is the default state for viewing any capturedimages. From thumbnail view state 112, the system can transition to anyone of several possible states depending on the action by the user. Forexample, the capture button can be pressed to enter capture state 114 toperform an image capture. If the image capture is performed incorrectly,then the error dialog 132 which can be entered from any state, may beinvoked. After the image is captured, the button is released to returnto thumbnail view state 112. If the user wishes to change theorientation of the captured image, then activation of rotation button 32will rotate the captured image 90° with each invocation. Moreover, nowthat an image is captured in memory 64, a user can obtain a magnifiedview of a portion of the image or page by pressing zoom button 28 toenter zoom view state 116. Similar to thumbnail view state 112, themagnified image can also be rotated through application of rotationbutton 32. The system will return to thumbnail view state 112 throughoperation of zoom button 28 or performing certain actions such ascapture, send, delete, attach, detach, etc. Additionally, the thumbnailview state 112 includes functionality for the empty (no images) stateand the image verification state. Navigation buttons 46 and 48 are usedfor panning when in zoom mode.

From thumbnail view state 1 12, one of four menu states can be entereddepending on the choice made by the user. First, activation of toolsbutton 38 will transition the system into tools menu state 118 where amenu of possible page operations and/or features is exhibited on display24. Second, activation of send button 26 will transition the system intosend menu state 122 where a menu of options for transferring a page orgroup of pages to another appliance, device or system is exhibited ondisplay 24. Third, activation of delete button 34 will transition thesystem into delete menu state 124 where a menu of options for deleting apage or group of pages from memory 64 is exhibited on display 24.Lastly, activation of help button 36 will transition the system intohelp menu state 126 where a menu of help topics is exhibited on display24. Once any of the aforementioned menu states is reached, the user canchoose a desired menu option by using navigation buttons 42 and 44 andthen validating the choice by pressing a confirmation button. Menustates may be exited or “canceled” by simply invoking a navigationbutton to transition to a previous state. In the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, the left navigation button 46 has been designatedas the cancel button in menu states.

From some states, an invalid response by the user (i.e., user presses aninactive button) will be ignored or will result in a transition to thedefault message handler state 128 where the user response is interpretedthrough the message that was generated internally and a transition ismade to the error dialog state 132 to notify the user of their error viaa message or graphic on display 24. Inactive buttons will occasionallyalso display a blinking icon to communicate to the user the selection ofthe inactive button and which buttons are active. Alternatively, errordialog state 132 can be entered directly if application software 70detects an error in the execution of a valid operation. The most commonexample of this is when the user follows an improper capture path withappliance 22 during the image capture process. In the preferredembodiment, within error dialog boxes, the left navigation button 46 hasbeen designated as the cancel button to provide user acknowledgment andremove the error dialog box from the display screen 24 as displayed inFIG. 4.

The features provided by the error utility software module 98 will bedescribed hereafter with frequent reference to (a) the architecture andoperation of the application software 70 of FIG. 2; (b) the flowchart ofFIG. 8, and (c) the captured screen illustrations of FIG. 4A throughFIG. 7B.

Operation of the Error Utility Interface and Method

Recall from the state diagram of FIG. 3 that when power is provided viaswitch 56 (FIG. 1C) application software 70 passes through a transientinitialization state 108 to reach thumbnail view state 112, which is thedefault state for capturing images using capture button 54 and viewingimages. Although the error dialog 132 state may be entered from anyother state, error dialog is commonly entered when the user incorrectlyattempts to capture an image. The error utility 98 may work inconjunction with the help utility 102 to assist the user in solving auser operational problem with the appliance. In addition to capturingerrors, input/output errors may occur when the appliance iscommunicating with a serial device or infra-red device.

FIG. 8 is a functional flowchart detailing the operation of the methodof user communication within the error interface and method. Afterinitialization of the appliance at power up, and while the appliance isoperating in any functioning state 134, the error utility softwaremodule 98 determines whether an error condition occurs 136. Once anerror has been detected, logic determines what error has occurred anddisplays the appropriate text error message in a dialog box 144 asillustrated in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B. The left navigation button 46 isdesignated as the cancel button and serves as user acknowledgment thatthe user sees and understands his error in operating the appliance. Ifthe user cancels the error dialog box 146, then the appliance isreturned to the previous functional state 134. However, if the user doesnot cancel the error, the logic checks for the activation of a buttoncommunicating that more help is needed 154. The up and down navigationbuttons 42, 44 are designated to scroll the error text up and downwithin the error dialog box and is designated by “More” within thedialog box as illustrated in FIG. 4A. However, at the end of the text,the down navigation button 44 may activate an animation sequence tofurther instruct the user 156 as illustrated in FIGS. 5A through 5D.Optionally, an additional confirmation button such as the help button 36may be designated to start the animation sequence 156. If theappropriate button is depressed, the animation sequence starts 156. Inthe preferred embodiment, animation starts automatically when it isscrolled onto the screen. If any animations are included in errordialogs, they will be embedded in the text and will be accessible byusing the up and down navigation buttons 42 and 44. The animation willstart running as soon as it scrolls completely onto the screen. Theerror dialog is functionally identical to the help dialog, except thatit includes a title bar at the top indicating the error. By way ofexample, FIGS. 5A through 5D are snapshots in time of an animatedsequence showing the user how to correctly operate the appliance incapturing a page. The animation sequence in these figures are onlyexamples and are not meant to exclude other animated sequences. FIG. 5Dcommunicates to the user that the method displayed in the animatedsequence is “OK” to use for the purposes of capturing an image. FIG. 6Aand FIG. 6B are animated snapshots showing an erroneous operation of theappliance. In these figures the user has incorrectly guided theappliance off the page. In FIG. 6B the “M” communicates to the user thatthis is incorrect operation of the appliance. FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B areanimated snapshots of yet another erroneous operation of the appliance.In FIG. 7A, it is visible that the guided path of the appliance does notoverlap, hence the error of “Insufficient Overlap.” In FIG. 7B, the “X”communicates to the user that the method displayed in the animation wasan incorrect way to operate the appliance. Other animation sequences arecontemplated for other possible errors in assisting the user incorrectly operating the appliance.

The error utility program 98 of the present invention can be implementedin hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. In thepreferred embodiment(s), the error utility program 98 is implemented insoftware or firmware that is stored in a memory 64 and that is executedby a suitable instruction execution system.

The error utility program 98, which comprises an ordered listing ofexecutable instructions for implementing logical functions, can beembodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in connectionwith an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as acomputer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system thatcan fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system,apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In the context ofthis document, a “computer-readable medium” can be any means that cancontain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for useby or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice. The computer readable medium can be, for example but not limitedto, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. Morespecific examples (a nonexhaustive list) of the computer-readable mediumwould include the following: an electrical connection (electronic)having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic), arandom access memory (RAM) (magnetic), a read-only memory (ROM)(magnetic), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory) (magnetic), an optical fiber (optical), and a portable compactdisc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical). Note that the computer-readablemedium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which theprogram is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, viafor instance optical scanning of the paper or other medium, thencompiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner ifnecessary, and then stored in a computer memory 64.

In concluding the detailed description, it should be noted that it willbe obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations andmodifications can be made to the preferred embodiment withoutsubstantially departing from the principles of the present invention.All such variations and modifications are intended to be included hereinwithin the scope of the present invention, as set forth in the followingclaims.

We claim:
 1. A hand-held image capture and communication appliance,comprising: a photoelement array for acquiring image data; a memory forsaving said image data; a processor in communication with said memory; adisplay in communication with said processor for exhibiting said imagedata; and program code stored in said memory and executed by saidprocessor for manipulating said image data, said program code comprisingan error utility software module for providing a user with informationon incorrectly operating said hand-held image capture and communicationappliance.
 2. The appliance of claim 1, wherein said program codefurther comprises: an error utility software module for providing theuser with information on correctly operating said appliance.
 3. Theappliance of claim 1, wherein said program code further comprises: afirst code segment for displaying text on said display.
 4. The applianceof claim 3, wherein said program code further comprises: a second codesegment for displaying an animation on said display.
 5. A hand-heldimage capture and communication appliance, comprising: capturing meansfor acquiring image data; storage means for saving said image data;processing means in communication with said storage means; display meansin communication with said processing means for exhibiting said imagedata; and program means stored in said storage means and executed bysaid processing means for manipulating said image data, said programmeans comprising an error utility software module for providing a userwith information on incorrectly and correctly operating said hand-heldimages capture and communication appliance.
 6. The appliance of claim 5,wherein said program means further comprises: a dialog module fordisplaying information on a plurality of operational errors and correctmethod of operation on said display and processing any user selectionfor more information.
 7. The appliance of claim 5, wherein said errorutility module comprises: a first code segment for displaying text onsaid display.
 8. The appliance of claim 5, wherein said error utilitymodule comprises: a second code segment for displaying an animation onsaid display.
 9. The appliance of claim 5, wherein said program meansfurther comprises a dialog module for displaying information on aplurality of operational errors and correct method of operation on saiddisplay and said error utility software module comprises: a first codesegment for displaying text correlated with at least one of saidoperational errors on said display; a second code segment for displayingan animation correlated with at least one of said operational errors onsaid display; and a third code segment for scrolling said display tocommunicate a plurality of screens of information to the user.
 10. Theappliance of claim 9, further comprising: a fourth code segment forproviding an icon representative of a user interface on said appliancefor scrolling between screens of information on said display.
 11. Theappliance of claim 10, wherein said icon comprises: a pair of opposingarrows with each arrow uniquely representing a logical scroll direction.12. A method for providing error information to a user of a hand-heldimage capture and communication appliance having a built-in display,comprising the steps of: processing a user execution of an erroneousoperation performed by the user of the hand-held image capture andcommunication appliance; and displaying a textual dialog containingoperational error information and method of correct operationinformation that is correlated with said erroneous operation executed bythe user of the hand-held image capture and communication appliance. 13.The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of: scrolling saiddisplay to communicate a plurality of screens of information in responseto a logical scroll direction entered by the user.
 14. The method ofclaim 13, further comprising the step of: providing an iconrepresentative of a user interface on said appliance for scrollingbetween screens of information on said display.
 15. The method of claim14, wherein said icon comprises a pair of opposing arrows with eacharrow representing a unique said logical scroll direction and furthercomprising the step of: emphasizing one of said arrows representing acorrect logical scroll direction in response to an invalid scrolldirection entered by the user.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein saidarrow representing said correct logical scroll direction is emphasizedthrough blinking.
 17. A method for providing error information to a userof a hand-held image capture and communication appliance having abuilt-in display, comprising the steps of: processing a user executionof an erroneous operation performed by the user of the hand-held imagecapture and communication appliance; and displaying an animated sequenceconveying operational error information and method of correct operationinformation that is correlated with said erroneous operation executed bythe user of the hand-held image capture and communication appliance. 18.The method of claim 17, wherein said animation plays when scrolled ontosaid display.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein said animation replaysafter completion when scrolled off said display and onto said displayagain.
 20. A computer readable medium having a program for manipulatingimage data acquired by a hand-held image capture and communicationappliance, said program code comprising: logic configured to recognizeerroneous operation of said hand-held image capture and communicationappliance; and logic configured for displaying a textual dialogcontaining operational error information and method of correct operationinformation that is correlated with said erroneous operation executed bythe user of the hand-held image capture and communication appliance. 21.The computer readable medium of claim 20, further comprising: logicconfigured for scrolling said display to communicate a plurality ofscreens of information in response to a logical scroll direction enteredby the user.
 22. The computer readable medium of claim 21, furthercomprising: logic configured for providing an icon representative of auser interface on said appliance for scrolling between screens ofinformation on said display.
 23. A computer readable medium having aprogram for manipulating image data acquired by a hand-held imagecapture and communication appliance, said program code comprising: logicconfigured to recognize erroneous operation of said hand-held imagecapture and communication appliance; and logic configured for displayingan animated sequence containing operational error information and methodof correct operation information that is correlated with said erroneousoperation executed by the user of the hand-held image capture andcommunication appliance.
 24. A hand-held image capture and communicationappliance, comprising: processing means for processing a user executionof an erroneous operation of the hand-held image capture andcommunication appliance; and display means for displaying a textualdialog containing operational error information and method of correctoperation information that is correlated with an erroneous operationexecuted by a user of the hand-held image capture and communicationappliance.